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Decision Virginia 2014

12/17/2014

Following a sweeping round of cuts lowering Virginia's $2.4 billion budget gap, Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced his final plans to balance the state budget Wednesday, coupling cuts with measures to help teachers retire and take on unlicensed daycares.

In a response to headlines of fatal fires at unlicensed daycare facilities in Chesterfield and Lynchburg, McAuliffe proposed $2.7 million to hire 28 new positions, charged with inspecting safety compliance and enforcing regulations.

The governor's office revealed 1,920 unlicensed home daycares across Virginia would have to be licensed if new legislation is approved.

The home facilities all receive state subsidies, and would no longer be able to avoid license requirements by filing religious exemptions.

"When a parent drops off their child, any time you leave a child with someone else, you want to make sure that we are doing everything we can to keep them safe," McAuliffe told reporters Wednesday.

The governor also addressed the daunting task of cutting more than $880 million from Virginia's budget, a spending plan that covers now through June 30, 2016.

McAuliffe's main reductions first announced this fall largely impact higher education, state agencies and aid to local governments. In total, the governor identified nearly $1 billion in savings and state aid that could be paid back to the Commonwealth, closing the budget gap.

"It may be hard to believe, but the situation could be much worse," McAuliffe said. "Three of our chief budget drivers are down: debt payments, the growth in public school enrollment, and Medicaid expenditures."

McAuliffe proposed state agencies repay the highest figure, returning $209 million in funding. Public colleges and universities repay $90 million and local governments cede $60 million back to the state.

Under the new changes, public colleges and universities would also be allowed to hike tuition costs, in order to cover budget reductions.

McAuliffe said more than $590 million would be saved through adjusting spending for nearly two-dozen smaller state resources, from lottery proceeds to health care funds.

The governor stressed there would be no reductions to public K-12 education, and included a $150 million investment to help local districts reduce teacher retirement burdens.

According to state officials, the new revenue stream for teacher retirement payments comes from previously unclaimed property five years after death. The assets range from the usual stocks and bonds, to the more unusual jewels, and even a suit of armor.

Millions are allocated for new school construction, as well as First Lady Dorothy McAuliffe's new initiative to implement free breakfast programs in schools across Virginia.

The budget plan also sets new minimum salaries for sheriff deputies, starting at $31,009 for grade 7 deputies and $32,000 for grade 8 deputies.

Republicans said they will closely examine the governor's proposals, but would not entertain any measure involving Medicaid expansion.

"We are committed to protecting the Commonwealth’s status as one of the nation’s best managed states," read a statement from the House Republican Leaders.

"The House of Delegates has consistently taken a conservative and prudent approach to the state’s balance sheet. This year will be no different."

The Republican controlled General Assembly must now vote on the plan, after the legislature returns to session beginning Jan. 14.

11/12/2014

It's official, Congressman Dave Brat was sworn into the U.S. House of Representatives tonight and spoke on Capitol Hill after being introduced by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R, VA-06) and Rep. Bobby Scott (D, VA-03):

Speaker John Boehner, Dr. Dave Brat, and wife Laura Brat at the ceremonial swearing in at the Speaker's Ceremonial Office immediately prior to the official swearing in on the floor of the House of Representatives.

Mr. Speaker, thank you.

Thank you to my new colleagues. And thank you to the people of Virginia's Seventh District who have entrusted me with the honor of serving as their representative.

We are proud that the Seventh District is the home of the Father of the Constitution, James Madison, and the Voice of the Revolution, Patrick Henry.

It’s been a long road, and very few gave me a chance when this journey began. I want to thank my wife Laura and my children, Jonathan and Sophia, for believing in me, and I want to thank God, as this wouldn’t be possible without His help.

Throughout my campaign, as President Reagan said, I’ve tried to appeal to people’s best hopes, not their worst fears. I’ve strived to raise the dialogue and focus on solutions, especially on the economic issues facing our country.

That’s how I’ll approach the weighty responsibility with which I’ve been entrusted.

Thank you all. God bless you. And may God continue to bless this great nation.

11/07/2014

Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner’s lead increased by more than 500 votes by late Thursday, expanding the margin between Warner and Republican challenger Ed Gillespie to 16,540 votes.

The State Board of Elections also clarified that all cities and counties across Virginia have until Tuesday, Nov. 11 to report their results.

Photo - Friday POLITICO election visualizations

The state code allows municipalities one week after Election Day to complete the canvass process and submit the Abstracts of Votes to the Virginia State Board of Elections.

The Board will then meet to certify the final vote counts Monday, Nov. 24 at 1 p.m. in Richmond’s General Assembly Building, Room C. The Board will declare a winner that day, and cannot adjourn until a winner is named.

Of those provisional ballots, 773 were issued because the voter did not provide an acceptable photo identification at the time of voting. The remaining provisional ballots were issued for a variety of reasons relating to a voter’s registration status.

11/06/2014

Less than two days before a critical reporting deadline, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D) now leads challenger Ed Gillespie (R) by 16,008 votes across Virginia.

All municipalities in the Commonwealth have until noon Friday to report their provisional ballot tallies, which will then be reviewed by the State Board of Elections.

The Board meets in Richmond Nov. 24 to certify the results, and will then declare an official winner.

As of late Wednesday, both candidates are separated by 0.73 percent of the vote. If the certified margin remains below one percent, Gillespie will have 10 days to request a recount.

Ed Gillespie addresses supporters Election Night in Springfield, Va.

“We were outspent two-to-one and yet the most recent unofficial tally has us separated by less than a percentage point out of more than two million votes cast,” said Gillespie in a written statement. “It was an honor to run, and I will respect the decision reached by Virginia’s voters.”

If the final margin falls below half a percent, Virginia’s municipalities are responsible for paying for a potential recount.

Hours after cities and counties began reviewing the election returns, a member of Sen. Warner’s legal team said the post-election canvass process would show little movement in the total vote count.

“There will be some movement… but nothing that will threaten Sen. Warner’s lead,” said Marc Elias, chair of the Perkins Coie political law practice. “Historically, we tend to see Democratic candidates in general, gain votes during that process.”

All but three of Virginia’s 2,557 precincts are reporting, bringing the unofficial vote total to 99.88 percent complete. The Virginia Public Access Project notes the state’s total is missing votes from precincts in Albemarle, Isle of Wight, Radford and Rockingham.

The group also says absentee ballots in Dinwiddie, Roanoke and Winchester are not yet part of the State Board's total.

“We will be watching the results closely so that we can ensure Virginians have confidence in the accuracy of the results,” Gillespie said Wednesday.

There are 3,622 provisional ballots statewide that could be counted, if they qualify. Provisional ballots are used if voters do not appear on the roll, or attempt to cast votes without photo identification.

While the Gillespie campaign vowed to closely monitor the results, Warner’s team remained defiant that the Senator would return to Washington and serve a second term.

“There is really no precedent for a lead of this magnitude changing over the course of this process or any other recount process Mr. Gillespie may consider,” Elias said. “The margin here is close, but it’s not small.”

As the dust from Election Night settled, Virginia’s election map appeared dramatically different from Sen. Warner’s first successful Senate campaign. While Warner lost only six of the Commonwealth’s 133 municipalities back in 2008, Virginia now appears to be a sea of red, with populated pockets of blue supporting Warner.

11/03/2014

In the hours before Republicans may retake the Senate, controlling both houses of Congress for the first time since 2006, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner may be positioned to counter the national narrative, defending his seat from GOP momentum.

Larry J. Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, just released his final Crystal Ball picks for U.S. Senate, keeping Virginia “likely blue” in a sea of red, along with several Democratic to Republican seat changes.

But what should we watch for as the results come in, and the race between Warner and Republican challenger Ed Gillespie ends?

Even if Gillespie comes up short, a single digit difference between the two candidates could propel Gillespie into the national spotlight once again.

The former Republican National Committee chairman would have accomplished a tight race with a relatively few contributions coming from out-of-state groups, a situation that prompted Gillespie to lend his own campaign $435,000 in the final days of the race.

Right now, according to the Wason Center’s final statewide survey of likely voters before Election Day 2014, Warner leads Gillespie, 51% to 44%, with 3% undecided. The margin of error for the survey is +/- 3.4%.

It is unlikely either candidate will capture all undecided voters, and the Warner Campaign contends the numbers reveal the democrat has sealed his path to victory.

However, the Gillespie Campaign points to a GOP robo poll from the firm VOX Populi with Warner leading only by four percentage points, 44% to 40%.

VOX was the only firm to show former U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor struggling in the days before his historic loss to Randolph-Macon professor Dave Brat.

Depending on the final margin, Gillespie may signal to Virginia voters on Election Night that his fight has just begun, positioning him to run for governor in 2017.

Another area to watch is where exactly Warner wins, and can he hold on to some municipalities in the southern section of the Commonwealth?

Southwest Virginia was where Warner grew a substantial power base when he ran for governor in 2001. The Senator also prides himself on appealing to people across Virginia, from the Beltway to Buffalo Junction.

But maintaining a historic level of high popularity has not been easy, with widespread disapproval of President Obama across much of rural Virginia.

As Washington Post reporters Jenna Portnoy and Rachel Weiner note, voters in Southwestern Virginia have replaced all state Democratic lawmakers with Republicans in the six years since Warner won his 2008 U.S. Senate race.

The maps showing the Republican and Democratic breakdown of Warner’s 2008 race, followed by the 2012 U.S. Senate Race and 2013 Governor’s Race show dramatic differences from Warner’s first successful campaign for Senate.

10/29/2014

After months on the campaign trail from Chesterfield to Culpeper, Republican Dave Brat and Democrat Jack Trammel returned to Randolph-Macon College Tuesday, days before one of the candidates will leave for a new career on Capitol Hill.

Both Brat and Trammell are Randolph-Macon professors, have played on the same intramural basketball team, and stood before an auditorium packed with current and former students during the campaign’s only debate.

The hour-long program moderated by RMC President Robert R. Lindgren and NBC12’s Heather Sullivan began with the U.S. response to the Ebola crisis.

“I’m hesitant to act out of fear,” said Trammell in the first response of the debate. “I think we’ve largely been responding correctly, but I do support targeted flight bans.”

Brat quickly contended federal authorities have not done enough.

“This is what economists could liken to a Black Swan event,” Brat said. “It’s a low probability event with catastrophic consequences if we don’t do more.”

With both candidates given two minute response times for each question, the debate quickly moved to Obamacare, as Trammell and Brat delivered some of their most heated responses.

“I would vote to repeal and replace Obamacare immediately,” Brat said. “It’s disrupted healthcare for 250 million Americans… It hasn’t solved our E.R. problem, and the promise of being able to keep your doctor has not been true.”

Although Trammell supported the aim of the Affordable Care Act, he distanced himself from the president and said he would work to fix issues with the healthcare law.

“President Obama is not on the ballot in this district, I just wanted to make sure everybody knows that,” Trammell said. “We’ve helped out eight million Americans who never had insurance, the original intent of the law.”

Both candidates discussed sizable differences on the DREAM Act, as well as illegal immigrants who now call Virginia home.

“The immigrants we would legalize would help this country,” Trammell said. “But we need comprehensive reform.”

Brat countered that in order to keep America great, the rule of law should be preserved, and applied equally to children and families who illegally cross the southern border.

“If you have true compassion, let’s get the economies of Latin America going again,” Brat said. “I do not favor a pathway for 10 million people to illegally gain entry.”

Following immigration, the moderators posed a critical question - How will either candidate ensure that Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, and Medicare Part D are still funded 15 years from now – without bankrupting the federal government?

“It's the number one issue I ran my campaign on,” Brat said. “Spending $127 trillion by 2030 and bankrupting the federal budget is the most pressing economic problem that our country faces, by far.”

Brat said his credentials as an economist would help him to solve the problem. But Trammell fired back, saying simply working across the aisle is the first step to getting anything done.

“We need a bipartisan effort on Capitol Hill, to work together, to balance our annual budget, and we spread outwards from there,” Trammell said.

In the debate’s final moments, both candidates thanked Randolph-Macon for hosting the event, and fondly reflected on the college nestled in the “center of the universe,” as Ashland brands itself.

10/28/2014

It's a faceoff between the man who toppled Eric Cantor, and the man whose Virginia roots go back to the 1600s.

Dave Brat and Jack Trammell will debate tonight at 7:30, and if you live from the West End to Louisa, here's a closer look at who could be your next member of Congress.

We will live stream the debate on NBC12.com/LIVE and I will be live tweeting the highlights from my Twitter handle, @MikeNBC12

It's one of the most high-profile races in the country. Brat and Trammell, both Randolph-Macon professors, are battling over who will replace Eric Cantor.

Brat is an economist who's worked with two Virginia governors, and the World Bank. Getting the country's checkbook balanced is his first priority. Asked about the challenge, Brat said in a recent interview, “Yeah, no, it's a huge… It's a $127 trillion challenge, right? It's huge, but the promise I made is to go to the people.”

And the people, across Richmond and nine counties, are also listening to Jack Trammell, whose ancestor arrived in Alexandria, back in 1671. A teacher for 25 years, Trammell's priorities focus on education and the economy.

But after his stepson Daniel was hit by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, Trammell now also focuses on fixing the VA System.

“We were relieved that he was alive. But we were really terrified at the prospects of what this would mean for him and what we would have to go through to get him well again,” Trammell said.

Brat is a professor of ethics, and has a Masters in Divinity from Princeton. He says his faith plays a major role in forming fair policies from immigration to the economy.

In a 2011 paper, Brat wrote, “We need to synthesize Christianity and capitalism.” About that, Brat said, “What I'm trying to get at is the relationship between having moral foundations for our politics, moral foundations for our press, moral foundations for our economics.”

The foundations for education are also an issue. Trammell believes states should be in charge of student standards. “We should return some control to school districts and to states, so that if schools are going to struggle, they have the freedom to move the pieces on the board to try to address some of their issues,” he said.

Asked how the candidates would be different from Eric Cantor, Brat said, “I pledged to put in a fair or a flat tax, to end kind of the special treatment up on K Street, Wall Street, and to make the tax system much simpler for the individual out there watching, and to get our economy growing again.”

For both of them, they'll try to make a break from a “do-nothing” Congress.

“My job for 25 years has been to work with parents, to work with psychologists and instructors and professors,” Trammell said. “And we don't leave the room until we have something in place that's going to help that student."

10/16/2014

After Ed Gillespie’s campaign canceled a week of advertisements on NBC12 Monday, spokesperson Paul Logan confirmed Gillespie will roll out a new political ad this coming Saturday.

The new order reached NBC12 today, an hour before Thursday’s 2 p.m. deadline. The new ad buy stretches for a week, beginning Oct. 18.

NBC12 has learned the new ad will target Sen. Mark Warner’s role in discussing possible jobs for Sen. Phillip P. Puckett’s daughter.

Gillespie raised $1.8 million in the third quarter ending Sept. 30, with Sen. Warner raising $2 million in the same time period.

“We will have the resources to execute our plans in the final weeks,” Logan said in an interview Thursday.

Warner's campaign has more than $8 million on hand to spend in the final sprint to Election Day. Fundraising for Virginia’s senior senator has topped $16 million, with Gillespie totaling about $6 million since he announced his run for office in January.

The Associated Press reported Thursday Warner maintains a sizable advantage in television ad buys across Virginia, and in Washington, D.C.

The District is the eighth largest media market in the country, where ads can top more than $1 million a week during election season.

“We are focused on communicating Senator Warner's bipartisan record of lowering student debt, bringing jobs back from overseas and getting our country's balance sheet in order,” said campaign spokesman David Turner.

“Sen. Warner's message is resonating with voters as evidenced by the Senator's broad base of support all across Virginia.”

10/04/2014

One month ago, Gov. Bob McDonnell walked out of federal court, trying to regain his composure. A jury just convicted the former governor and his wife Maureen McDonnell of performing official acts in exchange for more than $177,000 in gifts and loans.

After the story first broke late Thursday in the Washington Post, Reagan said Friday he was "overzealous and acted with poor judgment," when he left a voicemail for State Sen. Philip P. Puckett, and seemed to promise a high-level job for Puckett's daughter.

In exchange, Reagan said the governor needed Puckett's help.

Puckett was thinking of resigning in late May, a move that would put Republicans in control of the General Assembly, and end McAuliffe's top priority to expand Medicaid.

But in a transcript of a voicemail obtained by the Post, Reagan said his office would help Puckett's daughter, if Puckett did not resign.

“We have a couple of big agencies here that we still need agency heads,” Reagan said in the voicemail. “We, we would basically do anything... We need you for the rest of your term and beyond.”

In context, Republicans are accused of trying to get Puckett to resign, at the exact same time. The FBI has been investigating whether Republican lawmakers improperly offered Puckett a position at the Virginia Tobacco Commission, a job Puckett ultimately declined after his Senate resignation.

Although Reagan's voicemail and its transcript are now in the open, NBC12 Legal Analyst Steven D. Benjamin said in an interview Friday that investigators still need to determine if there was an intent to influence Puckett.

“It clearly appears to us in the public that a job was offered, in exchange for what might have been an official act,” Benjamin said. “But what we don't know is whether that was met, what was intended. We don't know the surrounding circumstances.”

“The focus of the crime isn't that it's an express agreement, or that it's contained in an email or a text. The crime is, the manner in which someone is influenced.”

“I certainly regret this and will always try to achieve the high standards demanded by Governor McAuliffe,” Reagan said.

Gov. McAuliffe stressed Friday Reagan never formally offered a position, and no further conversations about the topic ever occurred.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe, discussing expansion of Medicaid in Virginia

The discussion centered on Puckett and his daughter, Martha Puckett Ketron, because the Virginia Senate had been unable to appoint Ketron to a job she had long sought – a permanent position as a District Court judge. Senators are not allowed to appoint family members under the chamber’s anti-nepotism rules.

“Out of his concern that certain legislators were holding a qualified nominee hostage in order to force Phil Puckett from the Senate, Mr. Reagan acted on his own to inform the Senator that there were other available opportunities for which his daughter might apply,” McAuliffe said.